NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

British pop-rock band Bastille had what it took to survive the changing landscape of rock music. Today, the band has 18 million monthly Spotify listeners. Prior to “ Happier ,” a collaboration with anonymous DJ/producer Marshmello , the band has already explored EDM and had cultivated a rather radio-friendly pop sound. Propelled to fame with their number 2 British single " Pompeii ," Bastille is a band that has accomplished what few bands could achieve in the 2010s, relevance.  WHEN THE MORNING COMES AND WE'RE LEFT WITH WHAT WE'VE BECOME.  We all sang " If You're Happy and You Know It " when we were children. It was a standard in Sabbath school, but we also sang it at school. I can't remember if it was on a children's television show or at school where I first heard another verse: "If you're angry and you know it, stomp your feet." I don't think that I was emotionally stunted by my church upbringing, and if I was school may hav

An album set in a fictional universe, the EXO -planet boys came back with their fifth studio album in 2018, Don't Mess Up My Tempo .   The 2018 was the Korean/Chinese boy band's most successful record in the United States, reaching number 23 on Billboard's Hot 200 album sales chart.  Closing the album is the R&B track " Oasis ." The music was composed by a young American-Lebanese songwriter named Andrew Bazzi , or just Bazzi . The groove of the 808 bass loops, staccato instruments, and the EXO boys' smooth vocals make "Oasis" an infectious track. I'M ON THE ROAD.   The young songwriter Bazzi has written for Nelly, Camila Cabello, and Lil' Wayne. So far, his biggest hit, 2017's "Mine" became famous as a SnapChat filter. Before this hit, though, he promoted his music through Vine. Besides "Oasis," Bazzi wrote "Oh La La La," which also appears on Don't Mess Up My Tempo as well as a track on the band'

In 2014, I wasn't listening for what was next in Alternative music. Rock music in the early '10s was disappointing me with all of the Imagine Dragons and Coldplay knock offs. When my friend, fellow music blogger Stephen Barry told me I should check out Bastille , I reluctantly did, but I didn't really listen to them. I just listened to them in passing. My music tastes at that time were: rock should be rock (i.e. Linkin Park and Anberlin ), not trying to disguise itself behind big, bright production. I don't think that way anymore. Bastille became a hit in America because of today's song. After reaching #2 on the UK pop charts, the song became a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and it topped the Alternative Songs chart. While I would love to bring you another Christmas song, today we take a break from Christmas. BUT IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES...  "Pompeii" is a strange pop song. It literally describes the conversation between two people about to be killed in

  Adam Dutch is a DJ from Ocean City, Maryland, who specializes in blending pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. In 2018, he took two very sad songs, the current hit at that time by Bastille and Marshmello , " Happier ," and set it to Anberlin 's 2005 fan favorite, " Paperthin Hymn. " What the track gains is a harder, more passionate vocal line from Bastille's lyrics, along with Stephen Christian 's occasional line, adding "I thought you said forever over and over." Anberlin's lyrics, though, are mostly buried in the musical layers, making the song about a breakup and not about death. But, by choosing this mashup, I believe I have disqualified myself from writing about "Paperthin Hymn" on another "Sunday morning" or on an "August evening," so I will bring the original songs into the conversation as well. I THOUGHT YOU SAID FOREVER OVER AND OVER... Anberlin's "Paperthin Hymn" is an excellent example of